Refund of Swiss dividend tax withholding

I have received dividend payments from Swiss shares held in an ISA (I am UK resident). Swiss authorities have withheld dividend taxes on these, but I have seen online I could claim a refund by submitting a Form 86. Am I allowed to request such a refund even if the shares are held in an ISA and thus no UK taxies are paid on the dividends?

Hi,

Yes. This is special witholding tax that can be refunded by the UK rather than normal witholding tax that you can only claim as Foreign Tax Credit Relief. If you are submitting the form 86, the Swiss authorities will refund this and it should not be claimed from the UK.

Thank you.

Hello, Please can you clarify this response, the form suggests we need to send to UK tax authority but does not list an address. I sent the first copies to PAYE tax department and having chased they say they have not got them. In the reply above it seems contradictory: "can be refunded by the UK" "should not be claimed from the UK" Help appreciated! Thanks

Hi Luke Johnson,

You would normmally send the forms to HMRC to be stamped as confirmation the income had been declared here.
These would be returned to you to give to the Swiss authorities in order to claim a refund.
Our address is
HMRC,
PAYE & Self Assessment
BX9 1AS.

Thank you.

Thank you For anyone reading this post with similar query please note: Add your NI number and UTR to your forms for HMRC to be able to identify them, my first submission got lost with no way to find them without these references. You need the dividend vouchers or equivalent to send to Swiss authorities, get copies in case these get lost. Leave good time for claim as it can take a while

Hi there, my form 86 was received by HMRC on 17 October, please can I check how long it is expected to take to send me back the stamped forms? I need to send this to the Swiss authorities before 31 December 2023. Many thanks

Hi,
 

Due to backlogs, you are looking at 24/03/24 for a reply  . Thank you.

Can I get some insight on the timing of these steps please, is this broadly accurate? Example: If I expect to receive some dividends from Swiss company in May 2024 (i.e. just after tax year 23/24 closes) 1. Download/file the associated documentation showing details of those dividends - May 2024 2. File self-assessment for tax year to 5th April 2025. Specify the amount of foreign dividend income - by 5th April 2025 3. < leave a grace period - say 1 month > 4. Fill out the Swiss Federal Tax Administration's Form 86 and send a copy of HMRC to ask them to stamp it - May 2025 (presumably HMRC wouldn't stamp it until they've received by self-assessment for tax year to 5th April 2025 & verified that I declared the dividends) 5, Then wait for this to work through the HMRC backlog (5-6 months based on estimate above). By roughly Nov 2025 I'd have received the stamped forms from HMRC. Send a physical copy of this to the Swiss FTA - Nov 2025 6. Assuming a lag time of around 6 months. Receive payment of witholding tax refund - roughly April 2026 So you're looking at close to a 2 year turnaround from - Receiving the foreign dividends (taxed) - Receiving the refund Is this broadly accurate?

Hi death_and_taxes death_and_taxes,
We cannot comment on future events but based on current postal timescales you are broadly correct.
Thank you. 

The Swiss Forms 86 require signed certificates of the Income Tax deducted and Tax vouchers (supplied by the share holding platforms) to be attached before submission to Berne. Do these need to be attached before or after forwarding to HMRC for certification? After certification, are the forms returned to the applicant or are they submitted by HMRC directly to Switzerland?

Hi,

You will be required to submit the forms for validation to:

H.M. Revenue and Customs,
Self Assessment,
BX9 1AS

We will sign, date and stamp, digitally scanned copies of the forms and return them to you. You then submit them to the Swiss tax authorities.

Thank you.

Thank you for your response and note that HMRC will return the certified forms to the sender for forwarding to Berne. Can I thus safely assume that the Tax vouchers etc (required by the Swiss tax authorities) can be attached to the Form 86 after its return and are not required by HMRC?

Hi,

Specify that you wish the vouchers returned with the stamed Swiss 86 form to ensure that they are.

Thank you.

Thank you

Refund of Swiss withholding tax form 86 I have posted off the form 86 to HMRC as specified by the Swiss tax authority, but I did not attach the swiss dividend tax vouchers which I have. From Anthony Pride's post about this, it seems I should have sent them as well to HMRC and asked for them to be returned to me by after form 86 is stamped. My swiss dividends and tax paid are shown each year in a schedule accompanying my tax return. How do I contact HMRC this? If I phoned what option do I chose to get through to someone who knows about this? Or should I write in? Thanks

Hello, does anyone has an estimated processing time from the Swiss tax authority? I posted the form 86 and HMRC certificate to Berne in late Nov but still haven't received any payment from them. Will they get in touch if anything?

I do not think HMRC require the tax vouchers or certificates of income tax deducted. Their role is to ensure that you are a UK tax resident and tax payer and to stamp the forms 86 on the reverse to certify this. (Include your NI number and unique tax reference number on the covering letter) The forms are stamped, signed on the reverse by HMRC and returned to you for submission to Berne, at which point you can attach the documents prior to mailing to Switzerland. It would be very useful if this could be officially confirmed.

Hi clare wildish

You would need to contact our self assesment helpline on 0300 200 3310 or contact our webchat facility at Contact HMRC.  
You would need to speak request to a taxes technician about 'Swiss withholding tax'.

Thank you

Hi,
As you require this document validated by HMRC and returned to you, please contact our self assesment helpline on 0300 200 3310 or contact our webchat facility:
Contact HMRC and one of my colleague should be able review this for you.
Thank you.

Hi Anthony Pride,
Claims to a refund of the anticipatory tax on dividends or interest should be made on Swiss form 86.
Copies can be obtained from the Swiss Federal Tax Administration website (https://www.estv.admin.ch/estv/de/home.html) or from the payer of the dividends or interest. the form is in four parts.
The claimant should complete the first three parts and send these to HMRC in accordance with the guidance at How to apply for a certificate of residence to claim tax relief abroad.
Vouchers are not required.
Thank you.